


Unexpected Molting

by KC_R



Series: Hornet Dies :/ [1]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Bad Ending, Character Death, Gen, Hornet fucking dies, Hurt No Comfort, Molting goes wrong, no beta we die like Hornet, we’ve just driven straight through ouch city central
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:00:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29026872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KC_R/pseuds/KC_R
Summary: Hornet experiences her first molt. Things do not go well
Relationships: Hornet & The Pale King (Hollow Knight)
Series: Hornet Dies :/ [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2132583
Comments: 12
Kudos: 27





	Unexpected Molting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Murderbirb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murderbirb/gifts).



The Wyrm remembers his first molt in this form, when he had cocooned and stayed there for a whole week, before emerging in his current form, taller, with more pronounced joints and limbs and hips, decorated with a winding tail and a pair of beautiful gleaming wings.

This was not like that. This was not like that at all.

His calculations must have been wrong, as Hornet did not enter a cocoon, and instead started the molting process of spiders. She had been safely transported to the palace when she began showing signs of entering the cocooning process, but now she was in her room, which was now filled with webs, and she was molting. 

He had sent a message to Herrah immediately, asking for her to come as soon as possible. But, his first message was lost somewhere in Deepnest, and he had waited over a day for a response but received none. Thankfully, the second message he had sent earlier that day was successfully delivered and the Queen of Deepnest was beginning her journey to the palace.

He scratched at his arms, paced back and forth, occasionally checked into Hornet’s room, waiting impatiently for the Queen to arrive. He wasn’t good with children to begin with, and he knew nothing about the molting process. He had also sent for Monomon in hopes that she would bring him any information on the process, at least some statistics that would inform him that it was statistically unlikely that Hornet would emerge injured or… he didn’t want to think of the second option. 

He just wanted his daughter, his only living child, to emerge alive and okay. He knew she would be hungry, he had a lot of food ready for when she emerged. He only hoped it wouldn’t take much longer for the Queen to arrive. How long did it take for spiders to molt? Did different species take different amounts of time? Would Hornet being a Wyrm-Weaver hybrid have any effect on her molting process?

He peeked into the room again. It was still pitch black, as she had requested, and the mess of webs in the center of the room still held her. “Hornet?” He called for the forty-second time. 

“Silence please, I already told you that you’re being too loud.” She hissed. The Wyrm’s stomach twisted again. She had never hissed at him before today. Did she hate him? Was he making her first molting experience unbearable?

“May I come in? Do you know if you are almost done?” He asked. There was a grunt of what he could only assume was pain. It made him even more anxious than he already was, like how he felt when the Pure Vessel entered its first molt. Unlike Hornet, it had entered a cocoon. 

That process had been so much simpler, but just as anxiety inducing. 

“You can come in, just… please close the door behind you, it’s too bright out there.” She said, her voice barely above a whisper. He nodded silently, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. He dimmed his glow until it was only enough for him to view her. 

“Are you okay? You sounded in pain.” He asked, near silently.

“I’m okay, I’m okay. It hurts… a lot, but I’m strong, just like you and Mama. I can survive this.” She said in an air of confidence that was followed by a whimper of pain. He didn’t think his heart could drop any lower, but it did. 

“Do you need anything? Any food or water? Do you want me to leave the room?”

“No, no I’m fine. Please don’t leave, stay with me please. I don’t want to be alone.” She answered. There was a long moment of silence. The Wyrm gently sat down against the door, fidgeting and praying to all the gods he hadn’t yet pissed off that Herrah would get here soon.

“Dad?” Hornet called out.

“Yes honey?” He whispered back.

“Am I going to die?”

Those words cut through him harder than any blade ever could.

“Of course not, I promise, soon you’ll be out of this mess and you’ll be big and strong. Probably taller than me, to be honest.” At that, she giggled softly, just as she had done when she was a hatchling and he told her a joke, or when the Pure Vessel had messed up one of their practices and fallen over.

“You promise? Is Mama on her way?” She asked with an almost desperate tone. 

“I promise. Come tomorrow you’ll be running through the palace halls once again. Your mother is on her way, she will be here shortly.” They both were quiet for a long time after that.

“Dad?” She called out again.

“Yes honey?” He whispered again.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, honey.”

——

He hadn’t even realized he had fallen asleep until he heard a wet thump in front of him. He jolted awake, his glow increasing enough so that he could see the whole room. The web was torn apart, an arm hung from the ceiling, and only a few feet away from him was Hornet, her remaining hand outreached towards him. He jumped to his feet and rushed to her side. 

“Hornet! Hornet, honey, are you okay?” He asked, pulling her into his lap. She was moist, whether it was from her spilling hemolymph or from the arachnid equivalent of the slime that he had been covered in when he emerged from his cocoon, he did not know.

“It hurts, it hurts so bad, everything hurts it feels like my chest is caved in.” She cried, warm tears spilling down her chest and onto his lap.

“Shh, shh honey it’s okay, it’s okay I promise.” He said, gently putting his hand on her chest. She was bleeding heavily, she must have fallen from the ceiling when her arm detached. He forced some soul into her wound, using his magic to heal the inner wounds first before moving on to repairing the chitin. She was warm, far too warm, and she was breathing heavily. “Someone! Get a doctor! She’s hurt!” He yelled, hoping someone heard him. Where was Herrah? What was taking her so long?

“Please, please help me I don’t want to die.” She cried. “Dad please, please I don’t want to die, I want to see Mama again, I wanna see Hollow again, I wanna see Dryya and Xero and Midwife and Quirrel and Monomon and Vespa and the Mantis Sisters and— and— please… everything’s so cold. Am I dying? Dad it’s so dark.” She cried, grabbing onto his cloak tightly, undoubtedly messing up the new joints in her fingers. There was so much hemolymph everywhere, the more worried he became, the brighter he became, and the more he saw. Gods, there was so much hemolymph, how long had she been bleeding? 

He pushed more soul into her body in some futile hope that she knew how to use it. He saw her chest, and how the shell was so badly damaged that it looked like there was no shell at all. Her arm was not cleanly torn, the joint must’ve broken and slowly but surely ripped from strain until it sent her cascading down from the ceiling.

“D-ad…” she called out, voice barely over a squeak. 

“Yes honey? Honey, it’s okay, stay awake please, it’s gonna be okay, I promise.” He answered.

“I d-on’t want to die… dad… dad ple-ase tell Mama that I love her…” She muttered, grip loosening.

“You won’t die, honey you won’t die I promise. Your mother is on the way, she’ll know what to do.” He needs to get her to a doctor as fast as possible, but the closest doctor was in the City of Tears. That was far too far away. He focused as hard as he could on healing her wounds, maybe he could even bring back her arm. Nothing happened. He didn’t even feel dizzy from how much soul he was pushing into her.

“Hornet?” He asked. There was no response. He shook her lightly, and her hand fell from its grasp on his chest. Her head hung limp, her body went cold.

**Author's Note:**

> And then PK woke up and it was all a dream haha... right guys? Hornets not dead, right? Right?


End file.
